The way I have addressed this is with a process. Anything that I have ever worked hard to accomplish, I succeed with a process. I succeeded in competing in the World Championship Aquathlon on the US Team (Aquathlon is a mile swim and a 5 kilometer run) this past September. I created a weekly schedule of the workout I would complete each week: day off on Mondays, then double on Tuesdays with lifting in the morning and track workout in the afternoon; Wednesday was a speed bicycle ride; Thursdays was a swim and back in the weight room; Fridays I would attend a spin class; Saturdays were meant for a long run or bike ride; and Sundays were back in the water for a swim. By creating a weekly schedule from January to the World Championships in September, I had a plan that I could rely on and that allowed me to feel secure knowing what I had to do.

The benefit is that I knew what I had to do and when. I was clear on the goal and what it took to get there. It also helped me to overcome the surprises when they happened. This included bruised ribs from a water skiing accident that kept me from training for three weeks. But having the process enabled me to absorb the hick-ups and make up the time.

I have always been a process fanatic. But it was not until I arrived in Denver, Colorado and met Townsend Wardlaw that I put my process to good practice. Townsend is a sales trainer for business owners and entrepreneurs. He taught me to use my strength of creating procedures to help people realize their retirement goals. Creating a retirement plan helps put people at ease about their future plans.

Creating a process can be difficult because individuals don’t have the experience, knowledge or interest. What is beneficial is creating the step-by-step order to build wealth, invest what you have, lower your taxes and prepare for the unexpected.

The way I apply this to my wealth is I have created a personal balance sheet for my wife and me. I update it the first week of each year. This lists out the assets and liabilities we have. The next thing I do is I project out how much we will save each year until we would like to retire and graph this. Last, I compare what our projections are to what has actually happened.

Call me silly, but I always get excited when I am updating our plan. I feel in control and have a sense of peace that what ever happens we can adjust and adapt to.

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Paladin Registry is an independent, educational resource designed to help investors who rely on financial advisors and financial planners to help them accumulate and preserve assets for retirement. Since 2003 Paladin Registry has been providing retirement planning resources as well as information to assist finding a financial advisor or finding a financial planner. Paladin Registry has been featured in Kiplinger, Business Week, Forbes, The Washington Post, Yahoo Finance and has been seen in numerous other leading financial news and information websites.